Method of bbivibtg piles



J. A. WHIPPLE.

P-IL'B DRIVER.

Patented Nov. 8, 1859.

UNITE STATES ATENT OFFICE.

J. A. WHIPPLE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AND G. A.STONE, OF ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF DRIVING FILES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 26,073, dated November 8, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. WHIPPLE, of the city of Boston, in thecounty of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new anduseful Method of Driving Piles; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing specification, taken in connection with the drawings, is afull, clear, and exact descrip tion thereof.

The drawings represent various modifications of the method invented byme and many others involving the principle of my invention might beexhibited, but it is believed that those accompanying this specificationare sufficient to illustrate the principle of my invention and point outin what manner it may be applied to practice.

My invention was originally intended for use only for driving pileswhose tops were immersed below the surface of 7 water at some timeduring the operation of driving them and I believe that the superiorityof my plan over all the old methods in point )f both speed and economywill be more perceptible, when it is applied to piles driven as abovestated, but in the course of my experiments I discovered that my systemwas equally applicable to the driving of piles either in land or underwater when their tops were not driven below the surface.

In my plan of driving piles, I make use of gunpowder, or an equivalenttherefor, capable of producing by explosion,a quantity of elastic gas,and I so arrannge the charge of powder that when exploded it shall actbetween the pile and some resistance or fulcrum, so that the force ofexplosion shall cause the pile to advance in the direction of its lengthor nearly so.

Figures 1 and 3 are elevations of piles with cartridges and apparatus insection and Figs. 2 and 4 are top plans of the same, in which my mode isexhibited under such an arrangement of parts that piles may be driventhereby either under water or on land, and in these figures the pile isshown at a, the cartridge at b, and the cartridge chamber at d, whilethe fuse is shown at a.

The chamber (Z, Figs. 1 and 2, is of metal and is prevented fromslipping down over the pile head by a bolt or pin as at e, and themanner of driving the pile is as follows :-The cartridge and fuse are tobe placed in position substantially as shown in the drawings, and aslong as the chamber is above water, or in the air, sand, gravel, orother solid substances may be poured in above the cartridge, or if thepile head or cartridge fit the chamber sufficiently tight liquids may beused, or the bore of the chamber may be tamped solidly as in the oldmethod of blasting (the object being to obtain a fulcrum or resistanceto the action of the gases resulting from the explosion of the powder)and when the fuse is fired the pile will descend into the earth to adistance proportioned to the amount of the charge and the resistance thepile meets with. If the chamber should be lifted off the pile by theexplosion (which sometimes happens) it must be replaced, and by asuccession of explosions the pile may be driven tothe required depth. Apin or bolt 00 may be passed through the pile a, and the chamber 0?;this is intended to be used in case it is desired to prevent the rise ofthe chamber from the pile, when the charge is exploded; or if desiredthe chamber may be solidly secured to the head of the pile, or, whichamounts to the same thing, the chamber may have a head cast or boltedacross its interior, for

the head of the pile to rest against, the cartridge and tamping beingabove it. In either of these cases, whenthe cartridge is fired, the pileand chamber will advance together. In case the pin or bolt as, is used,the pine, will not be required.

It is evident that in place of the pin 6, a flange might be cast orsecured to the inside of the chamber, and resting on the head of thepile to sustain the chamber in place; but this arrangement will bedetrimentahas a surface of the pile head as large as possible isdesirable for the charge to act against; it is also desirable that whenthe pins 6, or m, are used the pile should fit the chamber tolerablyclose to prevent a portion of the force of the charge bein dissipatedbetween the sides of the pile an chamber.

It may sometimes happen, notwithstanding the above directions have beencomplied with that no effect will follow the explosion of the charge;but this is an exception to the general rule. In such case the sameprocesses should be repeated.

If the pile is to be driven in water and its top to descend below thesurface, the tamping may be omitted as soon as the top of the chambergets below water, and in such case the cartridge and fuse should bewaterproof.

Figs. 3 and 4 the same letters refer to the same parts but in these fiures the cartridge chamber is represented as closed at the top andprovided with lugs properly bored out so as to slide on rods attached tothe pile by a ring or in any other suitable manner; the cartridgechamber is pierced, so that the fire from the fuse may be co1nmunicatedto its interior, and also has attached to it a rope or chain. In usingsuch a chamber as this it is to be lifted from the pile and thecartridge inserted; the chamber is then to be lowered into. place, asshown in the drawings and the charge fired, and these operations are tobe repeated until the pile is driven to the required depth. When the topof the chamber gets below water, the weight of the column above it willresist the ascent of the chamber when the charge is fired; this plan isa very convenient one, as it admits of the charge being deposited in thechamber when it is above Water even although the top of the pile shouldbe far below it.

In Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are shown modes of using the explosive force ofthe powder without the aid of a chamber, and in these figures the sameletters refer to the same parts as in all the other figures; but theplan illustrated by these figures is useful only when the top of thepile is always below the surface of water, the water itself furnishingthe fulcrum or resistance between which, and the pile, the charge isexploded. In all these figures I have shown a small rod as extendingfrom the top of the pile above the water and the cartridge as made upwith a hole in the center and by this contrivance the cartridge mayalways be located with ease and exactness, even when the top of the pileis far below the surface of the water.

In Figs. 7 and 8 the cartridge is represented as resting directly uponthe pile, while in Figs. 5 and 6 there is interposed between it and thepile a sort of shoe, one flange or short cylinder of which surrounds thepile, while the other receives the cartridge; the explosion of asuccession of cartrid es will drive the pile to the required dept 1.

Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12 illustrate form of apparatus useful when a pileis to be driven through water with or without its top descending belowthe surface. In all these figures the pile is exhibited as surrounded bya ring bracket upon the top of which the cartridge is to be supported.This bracket is to be sustained either by a chain extending to the topof the pile asshown in F i 's. 11, and 12, or by toggles as shown infig. 9, the chains being so secured that the distance of the bracketfrom the top of the pile may be regulated at pleasure, and the togglesbeing constructed substantially as shown, so that they will prevent thebracket from deseams scending unless they ar tripped and win loosenthemselves when the bracket is lifted and admit of its being lifted,while at the same time they will grasp the pile firmly at the instant ofexplosion. This bracket may be placed in position by a driver or byappropriate machinery attached to it and leading above water. An annularcartridge 1s to be employed and the bracket is always to be lowered, sofar as to insure a sufiicient column of water above the cartridge; asthe pile is driven by successive charges the bracket will descend withit. In case the pile with its bracket have been driven so far thatanother charge would force the bracket to rest on the bottom it shouldbe raised sufficiently before such charge is fired. The arrangement forsupporting the bracket by toggles is a good one, but I consider the planof supporting it by chains to be inferior, as the chain will ofnecessity be heavy and will soon wear by reason of the repeatedconcussions. The bracket itself is a very useful plan, as a heavy columnof water to resist the upward force of the charge may be insured owingto the fact that the bracket may be depressed below water, while thepile head is still above the surface.

If the piles are required to be driven level with the bottom, thedriving may be finished by the plans shown in Figs. 5 and 7. The guidesfor locating the chamber or the cartridge may be employed or dispensedwith in all the modifications illustrated in the drawings, and whenguides for the cartridge are not used and the pile itself will not serveas a guide the cartridges may be located below water by a diver.

Any sort of waterproof cartridge and fuse may be used, and the lattermay be fired'in any proper way or bedispensed with and the charge firedby a galvanic battery and wires.

By my plan piles may be: driven at various angles with the horizon, aswell as vertically, and in all cases the pile must be located andsecured by guys or props before the first charge is fired, or as anequivalent for this the pile may be started ino the soil a few inches(enough to steady it) by sledges, or a hole may be bored and the pileinserted into it. I

My plan will be most useful when applied to driving piles whose tops areto be driven below the waters surface and especially in situations wherethe water is rough.

I have not, as before stated, deemed it necessary to point out all themodifications which I have devised, but in all of them, as in thosespecially described, the principle is the same, namely, to drive thepile by an explosion of gunpowder acting between the pile and a fulcrumor resistance and this principle exists in Figs. 9 and 11, for thebracket is, as far as the action of the explosion is concerned, the sameas the pile itself, being attached to the pile'and maklng a part of it.I have also thought it unnecessary to point out specially the advantagesof my process as they will be easily discovered and appreciated by thoseengineers who have directed the driving of piles and more especially bythose who have driven piles under 10 water.

herein described of driving piles by explod ing charges of gunpowder orits equivalent between the pile and a fulcrum or resistance, so that theforce of the explosion shall wholly or partially act to drive the pilein the direction of its length or nearly so.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the city ofBoston. JAMES A. WHIPPLE. [L.S.] In presence of JOHN DYE, BENJ. F.COOKE.

